Gotta love a woman that’s willing to be a bit chilly in order to wear the outfit she loves. I’d wear that 3/4 sleeve leather jacket of awesomeness in 40 degree weather any day. Some outfits are just worth it!

Does anyone else think that there are too many references here, and the overall look is confused?

To me, the Secretary look (eyeglasses + low bun), the toughness of the moto jacket, the preciousness of the tulip skirt, and the ’50′s debutante look of the heels comes across as an unintentional clash of too many eras/scenes.

@e – those are astute observations, but in the age of Tumblr blogs endlessly proffering images of ‘the ideal,’ I simply cannot believe that each of the stylistic cues you’ve identified must exist in a vacuum, mutually exclusive of one another. As other comboxes have elucidated – there is a story being told here and I think of all people, you may have identified the elements, but you seem to not see the trees from the forest. That is to say, if those indentifiers of particular eras/genres of style were calculated by this woman, indeed, we could accuse her of excess and being overly ambitious. But – step back and appraise the whole – what else do you see? I find lines that are exceedingly nice to look at; colors which flow and retain balance; and energy in the body language itself. In short, she matches. We all want to be a little bit of this and a little bit of that, right? I hardly blame her for sending mixed messages with the librarian glasses and the rock-star leather bomber. In fact, like a wonderful bottle of wine from Burgundy – the complexity is to her credit.

@e – those are astute observations, but in the age of Tumblr blogs endlessly proffering images of ‘the ideal,’ I simply cannot believe that each of the stylistic cues you’ve identified must exist in a vacuum, mutually exclusive of one another. If anything, it will be increasingly difficult – if not impossible – to separate and contain such eras in the tidy boxes to which they once belonged. As other comboxes have elucidated – there is a story being told here and I think of all people, you may have identified the elements, but you seem to ”not see the forest for the trees.” That is to say, step back and appraise the whole – what else do you see? I find lines that are exceedingly nice to look at; colors which flow and retain balance; and energy in the body language itself. In short, she matches! And not just satisfactorily, she matches exceedingly well. I’d point out that our identities are malleable and our clothes help us communicate the influences that presently constitute them. Basically we all want to be a little bit of this and a little bit of that, right? I hardly blame her for sending mixed messages with the librarian glasses and the rock-star leather bomber. In fact, like a wonderful bottle of wine from Burgundy – the complexity is very much to her credit.

I’m totally with Craig above. If you look at her face you expect to see her using a tailleur. And she surprises us all in a great way. By the way, Rue de Grenelle…GREAT memories of my time in Paris. Lived there for one year. Love and beauty. Back to Brazil, love and beauty!

@e, I agree with Craig…and I agree with Craig. Your negative comment is not without valid points, but from my knowledge of that young lady’s fashion background–she was a Sartorialist interviewee–I believe she deliberately mashed up the genres/eras to her desired effect, without any confusion.

Guys, I liked the debate above, but I would also like to stress one point:

I am always struck by ladies who are not wearing tights/pantyhose but are bundling up and holding on to their jackets so tight to protect themselves from the cold. This contradiction always makes me wonder. She looks both frail and fearless.

As for the styling, I agree with Craig, it is a success, and not albeit the mix-max of references, but BECAUSE of them.

@Craig: Thanks for your well-considered response – all of your points are very salient. I should start by saying that I give the subject the benefit of the doubt. In other words, since intentionality can be the key difference between edgy experimentation and a messy hodgepodge when mixing eras/scenes, I want to believe that she understands her references.

Even when intentionally combining one reference to offset another (like “biker” to balance “sweet”), though, isn’t there a limit? In order to send a clear message, I realize that I never mix more than 2-3 references within a given outfit. Maybe this is because I’m short (5 feet small) which requires me to be really strict with my presentation, or maybe it is because I am overlooking the overall picture, as you said. However, while I do agree with your comment that her lines and colors are fluid and balanced, for me that is still overshadowed by the overreaching nods to 4 elements that don’t speak directly to each other.

office chic! I love seeing RTW ensembles that I can actually wear to work. I think a lot of times, it is quite challenging to infuse runway pieces/looks into every day work wear, so that one still looks professional but not obviously a “professional”. As a female working in Finance, I have to adhere to a strict corporate dress code. It’s stifling, but I still try and have set up a blog to showcase my efforts. One last thing- Leather can definitely be corporate- I wore a leather blazer to work recently, and my boss loved it!